20210417 MODIFYING STRUCTURES FOR THE SAKE OF THE MISSION
17 April, 2021, Saturday, 2nd Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 6:1-7 © |
They elected seven men full of the Holy Spirit
About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews: in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked. So the Twelve called a full meeting of the disciples and addressed them, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the word of God so as to give out food; you, brothers, must select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom; we will hand over this duty to them, and continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.’ The whole assembly approved of this proposal and elected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
The word of the Lord continued to spread: the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly increased, and a large group of priests made their submission to the faith.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 32(33):1-2,4-5,18-19 © |
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Rm6:9 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again.
Death has no power over him any more.
Alleluia!
Or: |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen, he who created all things,
and has granted his mercy to men.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 6:16-21 © |
They saw Jesus walking on the lake
In the evening the disciples went down to the shore of the lake and got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the lake. It was getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined them. The wind was strong, and the sea was getting rough. They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming towards the boat. This frightened them, but he said, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’ They were for taking him into the boat, but in no time it reached the shore at the place they were making for.
MODIFYING STRUCTURES FOR THE SAKE OF THE MISSION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 6:1-7; PS 33:1-2,4-5,18-19; JOHN 6:16-21]
In the first reading, we read of the potential division right at the beginning of the primitive Christian community. “The Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews: in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked.” This is not surprising as St Luke noted that “it was about this time, when the number of disciples was increasing.” As the Church grows in membership, we can expect that it becomes more difficult to manage the expectations and the needs of the members. More so, when the Church becomes multi-cultural in membership. The early Church was converting more Greek speaking Jews from the diaspora. This was but the beginning of a multi-cultural Church as St Paul later drew in the Gentiles as well.
This is so true when it comes to the Catholic Church. As a Church, we boast of the largest membership in the world with more than 1.3 billion members. This is why we call ourselves Catholic, which means universal, embracing all races, languages and cultures. However, with such a large membership, it becomes very difficult to provide personal care, attention to their emotional and material needs; and spiritual and doctrinal formation to each and every member. More so when the Church depends heavily on the declining number of priests and greater still, the diminishing members in the religious orders. As a consequence, although we have the quantity, we do not have the quality. We have many Catholics who are ill-formed in their faith and have no real relationship with God; who hardly read the scriptures, and do not even attend Mass regularly. Many do not even go for confession at all.
So we can appreciate the challenges facing the apostles at the incipient Church. Earlier on, they could gather as a group to pray, worship, break bread and listen to the teaching of the apostles. As the group got larger, they had to split communities and the apostles had to take charge of different communities. Initially, the mission could be done by one or two leaders taking care of the material needs of the poor, particularly the widows, which is an essential aspect of the gospel; and the spiritual formation of the members. But when the numbers got too big, the apostles could not give so much time to attending to the material needs of the poorer members, the administration of the community, without sacrificing the time needed to proclaim the gospel to those who had not heard about Jesus and forming the members in their faith. In trying to do everything, they ended up frustrated, disorganized and only caused more problems for everyone because they could not satisfy their needs.
As Church, we face the same challenges as the apostles in today’s gospel who were facing the storms of life. Today, the Church and our members are fighting the storms of secularism eroding Catholic values among our members; the hedonistic and individualistic culture and especially the promotion of a promiscuous lifestyle and the culture of death. With social and digital media, we are no longer able to ensure that our Catholics are fed with the right information as it is now an open and free market, with people choosing what they are attracted to. As a consequence, we find ourselves quite helpless when our young people leave the Church in droves.
From within, we are not able to sustain our members and feed them with the Bread of Life, the Word of God and the Sacraments. This is because we are overly dependent on our clergy. Our laity are generally a passive lot, just taking in whatever is given by the clergy without taking an active part, not just in the operations of the Church but importantly, being co-responsible for the work of formation and pastoral care. Everything is centered on the priests. In the Middle Ages, when there were many priests in one parish and the parishioners were few and uneducated, it was not difficult for the priests to visit the families or to provide instructions to them. The parish priest was then the head of the village, and so they called the priest, “Father”, as he was called to be a spiritual father to all. But today, with mass media and mass communication, the parish boundary that served well in the past is no longer clear because as the Methodist founder, John Wesley remarked, “The World is my parish!” The priest today can no longer personally attend to the many parishioners in his parish. In Singapore, we have two priests in a medium size parish of 4000 and perhaps three priests in a parish of 6000 and above. Even then, of the three, one is near retirement. It is simply impossible for the priests to minister to everyone and provide personal pastoral care.
Of course, this inability to offer effective pastoral care to the parishioners is compounded by the fact that a priest is also personally responsible for the administration of the parish. He has to make decisions for the operations of the parish, raise funds and manage the parish finances, oversee the building of the church, renovation and maintenance, etc. When he is so involved in the administration of the parish, just like the apostles, he has not much time left for the pastoral ministry, much less time for personal prayer and study of the Word of God. This explains why many priests are burnt-out, frustrated, irritable and even resentful because of so many complaints and lack of appreciation for the sacrifices they put in.
What, then, is the real problem? It is because the structure of our Church which is 2000 years old have not adapted to the changing times. We still want to operate the Church the same old way since the Middle Ages. We are nostalgic beings. The membership has grown by leaps and bounds, our people are now highly educated, mobility and technology are highly advanced. But our structures remain the same and our means of evangelization have not changed. Although Pope Emeritus Benedict at the beginning of His pontificate issued a document on the New Evangelization which focused on regaining the ardour of spreading the Good News using modern means of communication, it was Pope Francis who initiated a change in the governing structure of the Universal Church. However, such structural change, while commendable, is just the beginning but still far from being adequate to meet the changing needs of a parish in a modern society. Not only do structures have to be changed but canon laws have to be re-written to meet the changing needs of a church in the Third Millennium. These old parochial structures are no longer effective for ministering to the flock and are hindering the mission of the Church to the world.
This was what the early Church did. They were willing to modify the structures. We must take the cue from the apostles. Instead of blaming others or making excuses for themselves, they called the community together to seek a solution. Recognizing their limitations and how the ministry of the Word and prayer were compromised because of the need to attend to administrative matters, they appointed seven deacons for the work of service so that they could continue to devote themselves “to prayer and to the service of the word.” And as a consequence, “the word of the Lord continued to spread: the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly increased, and a large group of priests made their submission to the faith.” We too must be bold in making changes to the structure of the Church. But there will be strong opposition from those who refuse to change.
Yet, even as we call for a radical change of the structure of governance and pastoral outreach in the Church, we must never sacrifice the fundamental principles enshrined in today’s first reading. It must be for the sake of the gospel and the mission. If we spend more time talking about structures and administration of our parish and dioceses, rather than on how we can grow the mission and extend the gospel, we are on the wrong track. Our focus must always be on the greater good of the mission. All structures must change to meet the challenges ahead of us. This is why in the appointment of leaders, religious or lay, they must be people of “good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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